As a business owner trying to reach an audience, you can’t afford to let your brand’s social media pages fall by the wayside.

I get it, though. Social media is a lot of work. But if you don’t pay attention to social media, you could lose a lot more than your time and effort.

You could lose potential leads and customers to competitors

More and more people are turning to social media to find solutions to their problems. For example, some users reach out to their social networks for recommendations, rather than turning to Google or other search engines.

Having an active profile page makes it easier for people to reference and link to your brand. Moreover, having a page means you can get in on the conversations. By posting on social media and interacting with users, you can let your audience know what products and services you offer.

If you’re not going to engage your audience, your competitors will, and you won’t have the opportunity to explain why your offering is the better option.

You could miss out on valuable feedback

People who experience excellent customer service on social media spend on average 21% more on the brand. Conversely, 83 percent of socially savvy consumers have walked away from a purchase after experiencing negative support service. If your customers are asking questions, making complaints, or giving feedback, and you’re not there to listen and respond, their message goes ignored and you lose an opportunity to build your brand.

As a brand, customer feedback can be one of your greatest sources for learning. By being active on social media, you can gain valuable insights from your audience and, in some cases, avoid a crisis or the spread of misinformation.

Strangers could represent your brand without your knowledge

Not taking part in social media doesn’t mean your brand won’t exist on social media. People will still have online conversations about your brand. When that happens, a customer’s negative comment or story can spiral out of control, and turn into a PR disaster. And you won’t be there to control the situation. You will have to rely on other people to defend your brand.

An even scarier thought is strangers representing your brand without your knowledge. If your brand’s not on social media, someone could easily create a page for you.

Even if that person has good intentions, they could spread misinformation or represent your brand inaccurately. By creating your own pages and updating them regularly, you can craft the messages you want your audience to see.

We’re here to help

Proper social media management takes a lot of time and effort. Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone. Acart Communications offers social media management, as well as many other social media services, for all sizes and types of clients.